284 - Purim (Part-3)

What a privilege we have that very soon each one of us will have the opportunity to tap into the holiness of the day of Purim. And as we learnt, Torah commentaries teach that Purim is the holiest day of the year, to the point that Yom Kippur is called Yom k-purim, a day almost as holy as Purim. And to the point that just like the halacha states by when someone asks us for charity that we are entitled to investigate the matter, however, when it comes to Purim as the halacha states, when one asks for charity, we do not ask questions, but rather give generously. And similarly, when we make requests of Hashem on Purim, the heavenly courts do not ask questions, but rather give generously.

And we learnt further a fascinating midrash which teaches that in the time of the future, all the Jewish holidays will cease to exist, because the holiness of the future will be so great that there will be no need for the holiness of the Jewish festivals. Whereas as the midrash teaches, the only exception to this is the festival of Purim, which as we are taught, will never cease to exist, because right now, today, the holiness that we are able to experience on Purim is on par to the holiness of the time of the future. So seeing as we have this short period of 24 hours of a tremendous holiness beyond imagination, let us make our maximum effort to prepare ourselves in advance, so that when we begin this 24-hour period, b'ezrat Hashem, we can use every moment to its fullest, and reap its maximum benefits.

So what exactly are we to focus on during Purim? Of course, as always, the first thing is to follow Hashem's guidelines as He is prescribed to us by halacha, because again, whether we understand or not, whether we connect and feel inspired by the mitzvos we might be performing or not, I perform Hashem's mitzvos in exactly the way that He has prescribed, with all of the intricate details involved in each of the mitzvos. So step number one to focus on during Purim is to make our maximum effort to fulfill all the mitzvos of the day, exactly as prescribed by halacha, such as the mitzvah of reading the Megillah, Mishloach Manos, Matanos L'evyonim, eating the seudah according to the details prescribed by halacha, and the like. 

Besides actually performing the mitzvos with the intricate details, which again is certainly step number one, we should certainly make our maximum effort during Purim to perform the mitzvos with tremendous simcha, joy and happiness. Many Torah commentaries teach that performing a mitzvah exactly as prescribed by halacha with all its intricate details, but doing so without a feeling of simcha and joy, cannot even begin to be compared to performing that same mitzvah with true simcha and joy. And of course throughout the year, every mitzvah we perform, ideally we should aim to perform with tremendous simcha and joy. 

However, especially when we come to Purim, the holiest day of the year, let us remind ourselves about the Torah passage which deals with the curses that might befall the Jewish people. And the Torah passage states that the reason that might happen is because we did not serve Hashem with simcha, meaning to say, even if we might have performed all of the mitzvos exactly as prescribed by halacha, with all the intricate details, but we forgot the element of simcha, then God forbid we could be susceptible to those terrible curses. And similarly the great and holy Arizal testified about himself that the reason that he reached such great spiritual heights was not due to his Torah learning, fasting, or any other forms of dedication to Hashem, but rather due to his tremendous simcha that he felt whilst performing the mitzvos. 

"Hashem my dear Father, throughout the year I often get distracted by the fast-paced world that we live in, and forget to truly appreciate what a tremendous privilege I have to be a Jew, to be able to be chosen to perform your mitzvos. Please Hashem help me, as we approach Purim, and especially on Purim itself, and B'ezrat Hashem to extend this message to the rest of the year too, to begin to appreciate what it means to be able to perform a mitzvah. Thank you so much Hashem for the mitzvah of mishloach manot. Thank you so much Hashem for giving me the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of giving tzedakah. Thank you so much Hashem for giving me the opportunity to say berachos throughout the day; to wash my hands in the morning upon awakening; to learn Torah; to light Shabbos candles; to have the privilege to listen to the megillah; and Hashem I could spend the whole day here thanking you. Hashem please help me that before I perform your beautiful mitzvos, to stop and be mindful of what a tremendous privilege I have. Thank you Hashem for the tremendous opportunity and privilege to be able to fulfill your mitzvos."